


Funken fliegen

by wizardcleric



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Caleb may be slightly ooc because he's kinda hard to write for ngl, Caleb stutters in German, Eiselcross is for love, Fluff, No explicit spoilers for plot just for Caleb's new tower spell, Other, Reader knows Zemnian, Reader-Insert, gender-neutral, i love those funky lil wizards, which is why it may sound a bit weird to native speakers, yes even the german
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28347057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wizardcleric/pseuds/wizardcleric
Summary: You don't know how or why, but somehow you had failed to mention to Caleb that you're actually fluent in Zemnian... a mess ensues.
Relationships: Caleb Widogast/Reader
Comments: 13
Kudos: 92





	Funken fliegen

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Hope y'all had good holidays.  
> I don't remotely know what's going on here aside from vibes only. I hope you enjoy it nontheless. The German is legit except for maybe a typo? German is my first language, so it should be a-okay.

You supposed it was his way of showing he cared a lot. Non-confrontational, simple, and delightfully sweet.

Caleb had been having trouble trusting and opening up to others for as long as you had known him. This fact always made the subtle ways in which he expressed himself even more special.

Before he had developed his tower, he used to send Frumpkin to whoever was feeling sad or lonely or inadequate. Once you had realized the reason for Frumpkin’s _convenient_ entries whenever you were sick with worry or sadness, you began to notice other gestures of Caleb’s quiet affection.

Especially as you and Caleb slowly got closer, Caleb’s displays of silent affection got more direct. He would put a reassuring hand on your shoulder or simply spend some quiet time with you. He always found a way to help, you just had to understand his love language. This was precisely what made those fluttery warm feelings for your wizard friend surface. You adored Caleb, you trusted him with every inch of your body and aside from your feelings for him, he knew everything about you.

Well, except for one thing.

It wasn’t like you were _trying_ to hide it, it had just never come up in all your time together. Caleb wasn’t aware that you were fluent in Zemnian. You were from the Empire, he knew that, and you had learned Zemnian from an early age on. By now, though a bit rusty, you perfectly understood any Zemnian you heard.

And you didn’t know how to bring it up to Caleb.

Partly, because it had been so long, sure. What worried you the most though, was that recently, Caleb had taken to… confiding in both Frumpkin and the spectral cats of his tower.

Once he had introduced his “nein-sided” tower to you, during your stays there, you felt you were being _particularly_ pampered. The rest of the Nein were, too, but there was always the extra mile that Caleb went when it came to you.

This wasn’t too unusual for Caleb. The Nein knew how close you and Caleb were, and now he simply had the means to show his appreciation fully. Cool. Your heart was dying a bit, trying your absolute best not to interpret too much into his little gestures, but this was okay.

Well, you _were_ trying your best until you went searching for Caleb one day and overheard a certain conversation he was having with one of the spectral cats.

“Maria, bring bitte meinem Liebling das Übliche, okay? Oh, und mach die Kissen extra weich. Danke.“

The cat then turned around the corner with a platter of your favorite treats to see you standing there. She didn’t budge until you took it from her. Maria went on her merry way.

It was the classic command to bring you some treats and fluff up your pillow for later. What almost made you stumble, however, was that he had called you _his darling_. Yea okay. Sure. This might as well be happening in a magical nine-sided tower your friend conjured up out of nowhere. This was fine.

Who were you kidding? You were losing your shit.

Naturally, the first place you went after that revelation was Veth’s room.

Because of course you did. She was basically a mother to Caleb, cared for his well-being similarly to you. As much as she was a chaotic gremlin of a woman, she was maternal all the same.

You floated up to her door and knocked. It was already quite late, and you knew your friends were starting to turn in for the night.

It did not take long for Veth to open. She looked a bit surprised to see you this late into the night. Usually you were either in your room or in the salon doing some reading with Caleb during this time of day.

“Oh, hi. What’s up?” Veth was in a cat-paw pattered bathrobe.

“I need to… talk to you. Can I come in? Please?” You asked, quietly and sheepishly.

Truth is, you had no idea what you needed from her. Caleb had unintentionally confessed his feelings about you, and you felt the same as he apparently did. All should be well. This should be the _easy_ part.

But it wasn’t.

Woohoo.

You took a seat on one of the taller chairs in her otherwise halfling-sized room and put your head in your hands. Your heartbeat was erratic, and you were quite sure your face was at least as red as it was warm.

“Uh, so what happened? Did something happen with Caleb?” Of course she’d know it had something to do with Caleb. You groaned.

“Yes, so. I… need your advice?” You took a deep breath. “You see, I kinda overheard Caleb. He was, uh, talking to one of his little cat buddies and he had referred to me as his darling.”

“But he speaks to his cats in Zemnian, doesn’t he?” She questioned.

“Yea, well. I may have failed to ever bring up the fact that I am fluent in Zemnian…” You sheepishly looked at Veth as you fiddled with your fingers.

Veth just took a good look at you and sighed, fondly, but sighed nontheless.

“I-“ She took a moment. “I don’t quite see the problem. Well, except if you don’t like him ba-”

“I do!” You interjected a bit too loudly, before you lowered your voice. “I really do, which is also why I don’t want to mess this up. I’ve been unknowingly hiding this from him, and I don’t know how he’ll take it.”

You both knew he had issues with being lied to.

A small smile spread on her round face. She approached you and put a hand on your knee.

“You know, I think if it’s you and if you explain, he’ll be okay with it.” She spoke. “I think this will be good for both of you.”

You gave her a smile in return.

“Now get out of here and into his arms, I don’t want to see either of you again until the sparks of love fly!” She spoke dramatically as she ushered you out of the room. “I doubt I have to give you the talk, but just in case –“

You simply walked away.

Nervously you nibbled on the sugary treats Maria the cat had brought you while you floated your way down to the salon, where you were sure you would meet Caleb eventually. He spent most of his night there, studying.

Veth’s words admittedly did fairly little to calm your nerves, they did give you a reason to get this over with, though. You thought about _how_ to approach Caleb about this and came up with a rough idea.

You arrived at the salon before you could refine your idea.

Caleb was sitting at one of the desks, his dancing lights illuminating the room dimly. He was focused on his tasks, yet he did not fail to notice you enter. You waved a shy hello.

“Oh, hallo.” He greeted. “I did not think you would still join me here today. It is around 10:24 o’clock.”

“Hello to you to, Caleb. I did not think I would, either, but I was craving some light reading. Do you have any children’s books?” You started fiddling with your thumbs.

“Ja, I do, but they are all in Zemnian.” Which was your point. “I could read them to you?”

No, this wasn’t the conclusion you were supposed to draw, Mr. Widogast. The offer though… tempting.

“I would enjoy that, I think. Uhm, join me on the couch, maybe? I’d like to read your favorite.” This was already derailing. Abort mission, abort.

Caleb shut his book and put the quill down before popping the cork back on the ink bottle. Then he moved towards the towering shelves of the salon while you made your way to the coziest looking couch, still nibbling on your treats.

Curled up in the corner of the dark burgundy couch, you saw Caleb approach a small stack of children’s books. He settled beside you, achingly close, and showed you the covers of the books he had selected.

You recognized all of the titles, they helped you learn the language as a child, and you had both fond and nostalgic memories of the stories. The very familiar cover of a bigger collection of Zemnian fairytales stood out to you, but you guessed that “Der Katzenprinz” was likely his favorite story.

“If you want I could translate them for you. I don’t imagine they’d be very interesting to someone who doesn’t speak the language.” He looked at you.

“Ah, Caleb. I may have unintentionally been keeping something from you.” You did not dare meet his eyes, “Well, I grew up with these stories similarly to you. I read them as a child, back when I first started learning Zemnian.”

“You know… Zemnian.” Caleb said matter-of-factly.

“I am a bit rusty, but I’ve been fluent basically all my life.”

“Oh.” He went silent after that. You glanced at his expression and he seemed calm, albeit a bit red-faced perhaps, though it was hard to tell in the dim light in the salon. And while there was a bit of hurt in his eyes, the small smile he gave you after a few short moments made it all better.

“I never meant to keep it from you, it was just never… relevant. I honestly forgot you didn’t know until today. I’m so sorry, Caleb.” You said, sincerely. He didn’t say anything, though he looked to be over the initial shock of the revelation.

“That wasn’t all I wanted to talk to you about.” You continued after a few moments of studying his expression.

“Ja? What, ähm, what else is there?” He refused to meet your gaze and that made it a lot easier for you.

“Earlier I overheard you talking to a cat, Maria. I believe you called someone your ‘Liebling’. Care to elaborate who that was?” Okay, maybe you were teasing him a bit at this point, but he seemed to take the news of you knowing Zemnian rather well. Though right now, the cogs in his head appeared to turn quite a bit as the realization of what you were insinuating sunk in.

“Oh, äh. Ja. That was nothing you should worry about.” He mumbled.

“That’s a shame.” You placed your hand over his. “Because I really like you. Ich mag dich sogar sehr.” _I like you a lot, even._ You had said.

Caleb’s head snaps back to look at you. The red color on his face was apparent and the look on his face held nothing but utter disbelief.

“Caleb don’t look at me like that! It’s true! I wouldn’t joke about something like this.” Caleb held your gaze and scanned your face as if he would find any trace of a lie in your expression. Though puzzled for a few moments, his expression then softened into something more hesitant and nervous.

“Does this mean you’d allow me to kiss you right now?” He asked hesitantly, gently. You almost wanted to laugh at the display. He had never been good at showing his emotions upfront. So this was both delightfully unexpected and incredibly endearing to witness.

“I’d honestly be disappointed if you didn’t.” You chuckled, feeling his hand change position to grab yours. His other hand cradled your cheek, brushing some loose strands of hair out of the way.

Finally, his lips met yours and by the gods, you needed that. The gentle warmth of his touch was balm for your soul, the words that remained unspoken for so long between you two were discarded because all of this was enough.

When you parted, you rested your head on his shoulder, breathing in his comforting scent as you snaked your arms around his torso. He tilted his head in response, so that his cheek would lay on top of your head. His arms wrapped around you, too.

You were content like this, silently embracing one another as your heartbeats tried to find peace. This was good, excellent even, you had to admit. You did eventually break free from his hold.

“So, about those children’s books…” You started, earning a quiet chuckle from your wizard friend, or rather, boyfriend.

He opened up the first page of “Der Katzenprinz” and you snuggled into his side as he started his narration.

The next day, the Mighty Nein would come down to the salon to find their two friends snuggled up in each other’s arms, sleeping soundly surrounded by books.

**Author's Note:**

> I love wizards, okay?


End file.
